By Kyle LoJacono
The Wiregrass Ranch girls cross country team finished sixth at the Class 3A state meet Nov. 17 at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.
The Bulls totaled 208 points, 166 behind the champion Estero and 20 back of fifth-place Lakewood Ranch. The performance matches the best placing at states in the program’s seven-year history.
“It’s a little short of what we wanted to do,” said seventh-year Wiregrass Ranch coach Don Howard. “The girls had a goal of finishing in the top five, and we just missed it. … As a coach I’m a little disappointed. I feel like I could have had them a little bit more prepared. We’re certainly happy with a sixth-place finish in the state. While it’s not quite what we wanted, it’s still a great accomplishment for the girls.”
Bulls senior Nikita Shah, a Harvard University commit, paced her team with a 15th-place finish (18 minutes 58 seconds) despite being under the weather.
Berlin Waters was second for Wiregrass Ranch, taking 24th by running a 19:21 and setting a new personal record (PR) by 11 seconds after finishing 66th (20:33) at states last year.
“I was hoping for top-25, and I got it,” Waters said. “I’m so happy.”
It was the second big performance for the senior in about 12 hours. Waters helped the Bulls soccer team beat district rival and perennial power Steinbrenner 3-2 on Nov. 16 before making the four-hour trip to Tallahassee.
“Got here at about 12:45 this morning,” Waters said. She added, “The last day I’ve been so nervous. I tried not to be nervous, but it’s my last high school race. It’s so nerve racking. I just wanted to get a PR, and I did.”
Howard said that Waters’ performance just hours after a tough soccer game shows the kind of athlete she is.
“She told me Thursday this was going to be her last cross country race ever and that she was going to give me everything she had, and that’s exactly what she did,” Howard said. “I wouldn’t expect anything less of her anyway.”
The Steinbrenner game was the third soccer contest for Waters during the week of states. She said she had to pace herself to make sure she could perform on the pitch and on the cross country course.
“It’s hard because I’ll be practicing with cross country before games, and I don’t want to push it too hard to affect the game or my race,” Waters said. “It’s just hard, but I have to make sure I keep it balanced, hydrate and make sure I don’t overdo it during the week. … I don’t think things could have gone any better. Just to beat Steinbrenner was so exciting. Coming here late last night and taking 24th is amazing.”
Howard is happy with the way his younger runners performed and what that means for the program’s future.
“For the girls who are coming back, they all ran good races,” Howard said. “Elise (Cedre) ran 20:00 (52nd), Madison ran 20:26 (78th), Addie ran 20:40 (89th), so that’s a nice one-two-three punch to have coming back, and Savannah Goode is our No. 4 coming back and runs in the low 21s, so I’m excited to see what we can continue to build on.”
Conway, a freshman, said she never expected to be fast enough to be in the top 80 at states when she started the season. She missed regionals because of bronchitis, but said she felt “OK” enough to compete at the final.
“It’s been a great experience so far, and I can’t wait for next year,” Conway said. She added, “There was a couple nerves today, but I was really excited to compete with the team. I wish I could have had a little better time, but I’m so excited for the next three years.”
The Wiregrass Ranch boys were able to maintain their streak of top-10 state finishes by placing 10th with 294 points, topping 11th-place Land O’ Lakes by six.
“We wanted to get five consecutive years in the top 10,” said Bulls sixth-year coach Chris Loth. “They didn’t want to be the senior class that missed the top 10.”
Wiregrass Ranch was senior laden, including three runners who placed in the top 100 at states last year in Ermias Bireda, Ben Hall and Patrick Hill.
The trio missed multiple weeks with injuries, including No. 1 racer Bireda (30th, 16:16) who missed more than half the season with shin inflammation.
The finish wasn’t what the Bulls thought was possible when they started training during the summer, but the runners were laughing and joyous in the moments after learning of their placing.
“It puts it in perspective,” Loth said. “Six months of work comes down to 5,000 meters. I’m so proud of them, and they’re so excited for how they did.”
Wiregrass Ranch loses four of its top five runners, but Loth already sees a potential new ace.
“Andy (Hippely) will be a No. 1 for us next year, and he popped off a minute PR today,” Loth said. “He ran a 16:52. Hopefully we can keep it going for six straight years next year. That’s the goal.”
—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker
